Fact: Vans are cool. Now Ford’s U.K. arm has just made one of its cargo boxes even cooler by stuffing a big engine into a (relatively) small package. It’s called the Transit SuperSportVan and it’s the sweetest van Ford has built in a while*. Some background: In Britain, the Land of the White Van, Ford […]

David Gluckman

Apr 13, 2011

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Fact: Vans are cool. Now Ford’s U.K. arm has just made one of its cargo boxes even cooler by stuffing a big engine into a (relatively) small package. It’s called the Transit SuperSportVan and it’s the sweetest van Ford has built in a while*.

Some background: In Britain, the Land of the White Van, Ford sells a big Transit van in addition to the Transit Connect, the latter of which also is offered here. The bigger Transit comes in varying lengths and heights, with front-wheel-drive, rear-wheel-drive, andall-wheel-drive available. The, er, sportiest choice is the Transit SportVan, which pairs the shortest wheelbase (115.5 inches) with front-wheel drive, a six-speed manual, and a 138-hp, 258-lb-ft, 2.2-liter diesel engine. The SportVan also has extra-sporty hood stripes, 18-inch wheels, and some other aesthetic gear.

The SuperSportVan, which is debuting at a British commercial vehicle show, is a one-off creation based on a SportVan, but with a 197-hp, 3.2-liter diesel five that puts out 347 lb-ft of torque. All that in a big-ol’ box that can still carry stuff—how cool is that? (We get the feeling that our love for this van is closely related to our love for insanely powerful station wagons.)

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*Supervan history: Ford U.K.’s history of awesome, Supered-up vans started in 1971 when the company built Supervan 1 (above). It was based on a Ford GT40 chassis with a standard Transit body shell stuck on top. Given its mid-enginedness, all it hauled was palletsful of ass. Supervan 1 begat Supervan 2 in 1984 (below, top), which also was built off of a Le Mans racer, this time a Ford C100 with a Cosworth V-8. Supervan 3 (below, bottom) arrived in 1995, another Cosworth-powered beast with a 650-hp V-8. Amazing.